The present invention is an interlocking fastening or packing material. More particularly, the present invention is a fastening and packing material having interlocking corrugations which can be utilized for fastening and/or for providing protection to an object stored therein.
The fastening of articles often requires the use of fastening mechanisms such as adhesives, strings, ropes, or adherent textured fabrics, for example, Velcro, which may be difficult to adjust, reposition and/or remove. For example, Velcro may be utilized instead of, for example, buttons, shoe laces, strings, buckles and any other suitable elements on apparel to provide an easily manipulated and easily adjustable fastening mechanism. However, the use of Velcro may cause damage to the article to be fastened due to the amount of force needed to unfasten the Velcro for removal or repositioning. Adhesives may also cause damage to the article to be fastened and it may be difficult to unfasten the articles held together by adhesives. Thus, it is desirable to provide a mechanism for fastening which is easily manipulated, repositionable, adjustable, removable and which does not cause damage to the articles to be fastened.
Further, such conventional fastening mechanisms are not designed to simultaneously protect the articles during storage, handling and/or shipping. Packaging of articles for storage, handling and shipping often relies upon the use of a box filled with various types of filler materials such as Styrofoam xe2x80x9cpeanuts,xe2x80x9d popcorn, foam rubber and expanded starch packing material. However, these packing materials are inconvenient and/or undesirable in that they create debris which preferably is recycled but often is not. Storage of the packing material prior to use also consumes a large amount of storage space. Thus, it is desirable to provide a mechanism for the simultaneous fastening and protection of articles.
The present invention is an interlocking fastening and packing material generally comprising a backing having two opposing surfaces and having corrugations attached to one or both of the backing surfaces. The corrugations include alternating concave and convex portions which are shaped such that each concave portion can receive and interlock with a convex portion therein. The corrugations may be elongate or may comprise a matrix of bulbous nodules.